Disability Earnings Survey
The week of February 4, 2013, Retirement Eligibility and Services (RES) will mail 70,240 Disability Earnings Surveys (DES) for our retirement population of disabled retirees (annuitants) under age 60. The DES survey is mandated by law. Annuitants that are eligible for Disability retirement benefits are allowed to work while receiving this benefit. However, retirement law mandates an earnings limit of 80% to continue receiving a disability annuity. The 80% earnings limitation is considered to have been met if in any given calendar year the annuitant’s income is 80% of the current rate of pay for the position from which they retired. The survey allows Retirement Services to determine if disability annuitants are eligible to continue receiving retirement benefits or if they have earned enough to be considered restored to earning capacity due to their current employment.
The Disability Earnings Survey continues to be an affirmative response survey meaning the annuitant needs to respond only if they worked or were self employed and have earned income. The responses submitted from the annuitants should be signed and dated. A daytime telephone number is required. All forms must be completed and returned within 30 days.
The Representative Payee Survey
The week of June 13, 2011, Retirement Eligibility and Services sent 12,600 Representative Payee Surveys to payees receiving benefits on behalf of annuitants, surviving spouses and disabled dependents that are not able to manage their own financial affairs. To protect the annuity rolls, we send this survey to ensure that the beneficiary is still living and to make certain the person receiving the benefits on behalf of an annuitant is still the payee on record and that the payee is using the annuity in the best interest of the annuitant. This year we have requested additional information to enhance our processing. We are requesting the Social Security Number and the email address of the Representative Payee.
All payees must respond to the survey. The surveys should be returned by mail and not faxed. Once the surveys are returned, they are screened for completeness and compared to our records to make sure no changes are necessary. If any discrepancies are detected, additional information may be requested. The Representative Payee has 30 days to respond. Benefits may be suspended if a reply is not received.